How many lines does Edgar have in King Lear?

The size of the part, every scene it speaks in, its longest speeches, and how long it takes to learn.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

Edgar has about 384 lines in King Lear: 2,859 words in 98 speeches, 11.3% of the play, and the second-largest part. The role speaks in 10 of the 26 scenes, and its longest wait is 4 scenes in a row without a line.

Edgar starts small, with about 200 words in the first two acts, then grows into the second-largest part. Much of his middle stretch is Poor Tom, the mad beggar he pretends to be, in broken prose through the storm. Act 4, Scene 6 is his biggest scene, leading his blind father at Dover, and in the last scene he fights Edmund and tells how Gloucester died.

Lines: 384
Words: 2,859
Share of play: 11.3%
Speech time: 20 min

67% of the words are verse. 98 speeches means about 98 cues to learn.

Scene by scene

Scene	Words	Minutes
Act 1, Scene 2	50	0.4
Act 2, Scene 1	7	0.1
Act 2, Scene 3	153	1.1
Act 3, Scene 4	556	4.0
Act 3, Scene 6	313	2.2
Act 4, Scene 1	252	1.8
Act 4, Scene 6	827	5.9
Act 5, Scene 1	86	0.6
Act 5, Scene 2	73	0.5
Act 5, Scene 3	542	3.9

The longest speeches

Speech	Scene	Words
“Sit you down, father; rest you”	Act 4, Scene 6	186
“A serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that curle…”	Act 3, Scene 4	159
“I heard myself proclaim’d;”	Act 2, Scene 3	153
“By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale;”	Act 5, Scene 3	149
“This would have seem’d a period”	Act 5, Scene 3	116
“Draw thy sword,”	Act 5, Scene 3	115
“Come on, sir; here’s the place: stand still. How f…”	Act 4, Scene 6	110
“Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom the foul fie…”	Act 3, Scene 4	109

How many lines a day to learn

New lines a day to be off book in time, learning five days a week. Review what you already know on the other days.

Time until off book	New lines a day
2 weeks	39
3 weeks	26
4 weeks	20
6 weeks	13

Questions actors ask